treasury secretary, tim geithner said the administration is quote, absolutely ready to let the economy go over that cliff, rather than drop the higher tax rates for top earners. president obama also told a group of ceos, he won't republicans inject the threat of a government default into the current negotiations. >> that is a bad strategy for america. it is a bad strategy for your businesses, and it is not a game that i will play. >> in spite of the rhetoric, president obama and house speaker john boehner did speak by phone today for the first time in days. neither side is revealing what they discussed. >>> on wall street, stocks ended mixed with a fiscal cliff. the dow industrials gained 82 points amid optimism about a deal in washington perhaps in the next week. the tech heavy nasdaq fell 22 led lower by apple. its shares were 6% lower. apple's largest loss in a year. apple shares lost $37 to close at 538 and change. still apple stock is up more than $100 since the start of the year. >>> meantime, citigroup announced plans to cut 11,000 jobs, or 4% of its workforce. the company says